Author: Ulrich Kellerer

Publisher: Ulrich Kellerer

ISBN: 9781986551229

Moments of change

This is a great book to read if you are looking for a dose of inspiration.

The Chicken Soup for the Soul collections by Jack Canfield, (who also wrote the foreword for this book) set the stage for collections of soul stories, as it capitalized on the aching need of society for existential sustenance. And as no two soul stories are exactly similar, collections such as these are very popular and sell well as they fill a very specific need, a hunger in fact.

In this collection of stories, twenty six people,plus the editor have written about the principles they have used to deal with change, change that could rock the foundation of their lives. They also relate how they got help from unknown  and inexplicable sources to tide them over a particular transition in their lives. Not only that, there are also stories of spontaneous opening to a deeper and richer sense of life, often ushering in a new dimension that had not been there heretofore.

For instance, the power of prayer and positive thinking was demonstrated on several occasions, in one of which a woman was relieved of a debilitating pain after a community prayer was held for her. There is the story of woman who suffered from severe pain over a period of years, who was completely healed by a naturopathic doctor that led to her learning a new technology that led to a wholly new business venture that employed many.

The power of prayer and positive thinking is also illustrated in the story by a woman when she was flying with her husband (in a plane he had constructed himself) and the engine stopped in mid-air. In another warm story, the doctors  tell a comatose patient’s wife to think positively about.her husband’s condition. Which only goes to show that even in a milieu riddled with scepticism, there is room for faith and belief in a higher power.

Some of the stories are unforgettable, some others, less so..My personal favorite is the one where a man, out of desperation and loneliness, was about to end his life one cold night, when both his children (from different families) who just “happened” to be there, reached out to him. Another story that I carry with me is about a woman, who during a sleigh ride down a hilly slope on a cold night, just “happened” to stop at the exact place, where her husband who had gone before her, lay gravely injured.

All the stories are not about ”the moment everything changed”. A few of them are about the kind of attitude, one needs to cultivate when living life, a mindset acquired after having had to flee as war refugees. A few others affirm their credo by explaining how they deal with change in their everyday life.

One story details the process of people coming together over a period of years and reliving their shared companionship. There are also a couple of stories regarding a job change and a couple of others about meeting the “perfect other” in a relationship. The “perfect” relationship happened to one of the contributors when she recognized her present partner at the time to be “the one”.

There are two unforgettable stories in which a teenager got severely electrocuted and how he found sustenance by directing his energies into art. Another would-be Olympic champion, who after a bout of meningitis, which precluded him from competing, turned his attention to physiotherapy and training others.

Last, but not least is the story of the author himself, both in the introduction to this collection and its epilogue. There, he describes his own journey, which started with an NDE and took him to be a published author and initiator of a reading circle for elderly patients in a nursing home.

The collection has been very well edited and put together. The contributors have bared their souls in each story, making this collection truly unforgettable and of course, a great read.

“Life’s journey is one of constant movement. Hop...and watch as something new unfolds”.

This just about sums up the message of this book.

Warmly recommended.